The present invention relates to a rail gauging and straightening shoe for attachment to a deformed rail of a railroad track to return it to proper position.
By way of background, when there is a train derailment, one or both of the tracks become loosened from the ties on which they are mounted and they become deformed. In the past, one way of straightening the rails was to dig holes in the railroad bed, attach members to the rails, and pull them together. However, providing holes to receive the fastening members was awkward and laborious. In addition, pulling the rails by a member attached to the bottom frequently caused them to twist out of shape as they were pulled into position. Other types of rail gauging devices were of a nature that they had to be demounted from the rail after it was pulled back into position, so as to permit a train wheel to move along the track, and the rail often sprung out of gauge unless it was spiked to its ties. It is with overcoming the foregoing deficiencies of the prior art that the present invention is concerned.